(Topic ID: 188260)

'79 Genie - 'players level' restoration

By SunKing

6 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 105 posts
  • 30 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 years ago by SunKing
  • Topic is favorited by 19 Pinsiders

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There are 105 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 3.
#51 6 years ago

Thanks Brian, but I went ahead and ordered 4 more cans this morning.
...that should be more than enough.

#52 6 years ago
Quoted from angus:

I'm pretty sure vid mentions in his thread that dripping 2pac into sunken inserts is the way to go. Spraying a lot won't level itself over an insert.

True, but remember, I'm a hack! The only clear I have is in a spray can, so I'm doing the best with what I have. I got 4 more cans, and used two on just the inserts. I sprayed a thick coat, let it dry for about an hour or so, then used the rest of the can on a second layer. This was then sanded down - and the process repeated with the second can. That's where I am right now. You can see I am making progress getting them level - but yeah - not all of them will be 100%. Later today, I plan to sand this down one last time, and use the final two cans for the final coat. If all goes well, I should be putting everything back together in a couple days.

Oh, and my new PI 1x4 board arrived. I HIGHLY recommend it for any Gottlieb system 1 game. Going through the cabinet wiring, I found a couple things that need to be fixed before I try to power it up for the first time. It took me a while, but finally realized the knocker was missing - it's two wires had been cut. Also, some wires in the coindoor need to be repaired.

I'm beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

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#53 6 years ago

The original Spike board in the head of the cab

#54 6 years ago

I just finished laying down the final coat of clear. It's not perfect, but I think it looks GOOD! ...here's a couple quick preview pics - will post the 'money shot' when it's had a bit more time to set.

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#55 6 years ago

It's looking good are you going to bring it to the HAAG expo? Sure would like to see it and play it in Oct

#56 6 years ago

Boom - I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Drinking a Jack 'n Coke - it's a good pinball day.

I need to explore the economics of spending over $150 in spray on clear vs buying some 2PAC to handle the inserts...save me a lot of sanding and wasted clear. I know...should never try to cut corners...

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#57 6 years ago
Quoted from PoBoyPinball:

It's looking good are you going to bring it to the HAAG expo? Sure would like to see it and play it in Oct

Thanks! Yeah, I probably will bring it to HAAG.

#58 6 years ago

Great work! That looks insane!!!

#59 6 years ago

"Order up!" My Diner playfield is next on your list.

#60 6 years ago

Holy shit that is looking so damn awesome, Brad!! Fantastic work, my friend! Can't wait to see it (and play it eventually) in person!

#61 6 years ago

Thanks guys! I am really happy with how the playfield came out. Of course, it is not perfect. Even with a very flat playfield, you can not expect perfection if you just spray on a thick coat of clear and walk away. HEP, Vid or any of the other pro's would spend hours sanding out any imperfections and polishing to get a perfect glass-like surface. I saved myself many hours of that work by just accepting the minor flaws and imperfections. In my opinion, it is still MUCH better than what I started with.

So I've started to reassmeble the playfield. Before going back on, every part is inspected, cleaned and shined. It's a good opportunity to gap all the switches too. I still have to fix some wiring on the coin door and in the cabinet. I have a new knocker mech coming from Marco - and I ordered all the LED's I will need (to do it tastefully - I'm not a fan of the rainbow LED puke - especially on these older games).

Here's my tally so far:

Base Game: $300
PI 1x4: $400
8 cans 2PAC: $160
Connectors/pins: $25
Knocker/misc $60
LED's $120

Grand total: $1,065 ...or maybe a few $'s more.

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#62 6 years ago

Great work! Cool project!

#63 6 years ago

I'm in the process of doing my Genie too.

That dang ground braid though...so many staples. So much solder.

#64 6 years ago
Quoted from jar155:

That dang ground braid though...so many staples. So much solder

Since you are doing a playfield swap, there is no avoiding all those staples. Sux.... I know. I've done a Firepower, Xenon and Paragon playfield swap. For each of those, being the hack I am, I just removed the staples, unscrewed everything and then moved the entire wire harness, mechs, lamp sockets and ground braid - all in one big clump. No soldering needed for the most part.

....Happy Thursday folks! It's another Jack-n-Coke and Genie night for me. With a couple Alien games thrown in for good measure.

#65 6 years ago

Wow $300 for the game, good deal. Your spray clear came out much better than mine, looks good.

#66 6 years ago

IT IS ALIVE!!!

...just got it to boot up and figured I'd share my happiness. There are lots of switch adjustments that need to be made, one upper flipper isn't working, one pop bumper isn't working, stuck switch scoring random points, etc. BUT IT WORKS!

I was a bit freaked out earlier this week when the first boot failed. Then the new board defaulted to French and that threw me for a bit. I got into the test modes and was happy to see the controlled lights working, but no coils would fire, so the game would not start. I had my DMM out and checked diodes, etc - but it's funny - IT WAS A FUSE! Yeah, I chuckled to myself when I found it. D'oh!

I'll post a few final pics to close this thread once I get it tuned up, cleaned up and put on the backglass. (I have a couple options on a better replacement pending - hope to resolve that soon)...

Thanks for lookin'!

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#67 6 years ago

Congrats! Genie is one pretty machine.

#68 6 years ago

Great stuff, congratulations!

#69 6 years ago

looks real nice! Love playing Genie. Hope Jeff gets his done and brings it to RMPS.

#71 6 years ago

Ghosting - it's not just for the new Sterns!

...yep - after logging some games, I noticed I was experiencing some 'ghosting' on this insert. I'm going to ping Vid and get some advice on how to best to avoid this on any future projects. I'm open to all suggestions....

The good news is that Genie is playing 100% - only have one bulb out that may need a new socket - everything else is A-OK!

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#72 6 years ago

Dang clearcoat!

Hopefully that backglass gets there today or tomorrow.

#73 6 years ago

Wow, very impressive work. Hope the SBM I'm working on comes out as good as your Genie!

#74 6 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Ghosting - it's not just for the new Sterns!
...yep - after logging some games, I noticed I was experiencing some 'ghosting' on this insert. I'm going to ping Vid and get some advice on how to best to avoid this on any future projects. I'm open to all suggestions....
The good news is that Genie is playing 100% - only have one bulb out that may need a new socket - everything else is A-OK!

Slit those ghosts and fill them.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration/page/2#post-551833

It looks like your inserts are still moving (the crack along the top edge), so get behind those inserts and glue them down with epoxy.

Glue all your inserts BEFORE clearcoating.

#75 6 years ago
Quoted from vid1900:

Glue all your inserts BEFORE clearcoating

Thank you sir!!! ...lesson learned - the hard way - which seems to be the only way for me.

#76 6 years ago

I had a few adult beverages and played some games on Genie last night. In addition to the 'rock solid' performance of the new PI 1x4 board, I am really impressed with some of the code improvements.

Attract mode: Normally Genie would sit dark (except the GI) between games. The Pascal board adds a nice sweeping attract mode.

Skill Shot: A random flashing skill shot at the ABCD rollovers, and a neat lightshow if you hit it. The entire machine flashes - including the GI - which it a neat trick for a '79 game.

Ball save: Yep - a nice 6 second ball save (adjustable of course)....very nice to have when game is set to 3 balls.

Display Improvements: Scrolling text, flashing text - audits and adjustments spelled out.

High scores: Saves and allows you to enter initials for the top 5 high scores.

....tons of other enhancements and adjustments. Obviously, I highly recommend this board for Gottlieb System 1 machines.

#77 6 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Ball save: Yep - a nice 6 second ball save (adjustable of course)....very nice to have when game is set to 3 balls.

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#78 6 years ago

Great thread, I love these homebrew restos...

#79 6 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Then...and get ready for the purists to cringe...I used press on letters for the text.

You are my hero .

#80 6 years ago

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#81 6 years ago

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

That's awful.

So sorry your BG is a heaping pile of rubble now.

Was it insured?

#82 6 years ago

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

It was insured.

#83 6 years ago

Yeah, my heart sank a little when I saw it. But just so there's no confusion - Jar155 has been SUPER cool to deal with in my attempts to get a better backglass for my Genie. We've PM'd...and hopefully FedEx will make it right. It's all good in the 'hood.

EDIT: Jar already refunded my $$, which was above/beyond what I expected. Great guy in my book.

#84 6 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Yeah, my heart sank a little when I saw it. But just so there's no confusion - Jar155 has been SUPER cool to deal with in my attempts to get a better backglass for my Genie. We've PM'd...and hopefully FedEx will make it right. It's all good in the 'hood.

EDIT: Jar already refunded my $$, which was above/beyond what I expected. Great guy in my book.

Damn. Hopefully he gets reimbursed from FedEx.

#85 6 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Thanks guys! I am really happy with how the playfield came out. Of course, it is not perfect. Even with a very flat playfield, you can not expect perfection if you just spray on a thick coat of clear and walk away. HEP, Vid or any of the other pro's would spend hours sanding out any imperfections and polishing to get a perfect glass-like surface. I saved myself many hours of that work by just accepting the minor flaws and imperfections. In my opinion, it is still MUCH better than what I started with.

I have a question about the "sanding" - even at high grits, doesn't that leave a surface that has micro-scratches that would show as a whitish cover over the table?

#86 6 years ago
Quoted from mark532011:

I have a question about the "sanding" - even at high grits, doesn't that leave a surface that has micro-scratches that would show as a whitish cover over the table?

Yes it will. You need to follow the sanding, usually after some 1500/2000 wet sanding, with various grades of rubbing and polishing compounds, from a coarse to a real fine, to remove the "whitish cover" you introduced by the sanding.

#87 6 years ago

Wow, that playfield looks awesome. As I was reading for the first time and got down to the pile of pieces I thought... it can't be, no, no! I have this game on my wishlist. Great thread

2 weeks later
#88 6 years ago

Great post! I am in the process of doing my Sinbad right now. I have the Pascal board so I am really excited to hear about how awesome it is!

1 week later
#89 6 years ago

When it comes to glass, I must be cursed. First, the backglass from Jar gets destroyed during shipping. Then, the new playfield glass I ordered from Marco got damaged in shipping. And now, the replacement that Marco shipped out has also been damaged. WTF is FedEx doing!?!?!

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#90 6 years ago

DOH
Maybe the glass will still be intact. I'm sure it was less than $100, doesn't that mean FedEx will have to replace it if it is broken?

#91 6 years ago

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#92 6 years ago

Well, it's about time to wrap up this thread. Genie has been playing rock solid, and last night I was finally able to move her into my office and install the original backglass. You can see why I was looking for a better replacement, but overall it's not too bad. I will probably just live with it 'as is' for now. You can also see why I'm buying new playfield glass (if I can get it delivered with breaking). It'd be dumb to spend all that time repairing and clearing the playfield, only to hide it behind terrribly scratched glass. Anyway, here's a few pics I took after getting it set up last night.

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#93 6 years ago

Too cool! I'm looking at a Genie right now... this will be a nice thread to review

#94 6 years ago

I love the art/theme on this. What a great looking machine!

#95 6 years ago
Quoted from quinntopia:

What a great looking machine!

And it's fun to play too!

GLASS UPDATE:
I was so excited that on the 3rd attempt, FedEx was finally able to get my playfield glass delivered without shattering it. Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived when I opened the box, and realized the glass was the wrong size. D'oh!!

The Gottlieb Widebody glass I ordered should have been 27.5 inches, but the glass delivered was only 24.5. I already spoke with Marco, and they are going to ship out another tomorrow. Will FedEx shatter it? Will it be the correct size? Tune in next week as the glass saga continues!

#96 6 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived when I opened the box, and realized the glass was the wrong size. D'oh!!
The Gottlieb Widebody glass I ordered should have been 27.5 inches, but the glass delivered was only 24.5.

#97 6 years ago
Quoted from SunKing:

And it's fun to play too!
GLASS UPDATE:
I was so excited that on the 3rd attempt, FedEx was finally able to get my playfield glass delivered without shattering it. Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived when I opened the box, and realized the glass was the wrong size. D'oh!!
The Gottlieb Widebody glass I ordered should have been 27.5 inches, but the glass delivered was only 24.5. I already spoke with Marco, and they are going to ship out another tomorrow. Will FedEx shatter it? Will it be the correct size? Tune in next week as the glass saga continues!

You are on a hot streak.

#98 6 years ago

OMG, I hope you can find this laugh-able some day... SOME DAY?

#99 6 years ago
Quoted from Atari_Daze:

OMG, I hope you can find this laugh-able some day... SOME DAY?

It is comical. ...a bit frustrating, but nothing more. I'm not out any $$ - it's just time. The folks at Marco have been GREAT - excellent custome service. They told me to just keep the glass that was the wrong size. The correct size is supposed to show up today - fingers crossed it's still in one piece.

#100 6 years ago

FINALLY - my new glass arived last night. It was still in one piece, and the correct size - woohoo! So that's it for this project - I'm done. Genie is playing great, and I had a lot of fun fixin' her up.

Here's a few before/after pictures:

Before:
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After:
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Before:
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After:
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